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  • May 1, 1796
  • Page 57
  • THE FINE ARTS.
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The Freemasons' Magazine, May 1, 1796: Page 57

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Page 57

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The Fine Arts.

THE FINE ARTS .

ROYAL ACADEMY .

_ "Omnestacitoquodamsensu , sine ulla arte autratione , qua sint in artibus , et in pictum , et in sigms , et in ahis operibus , recta ac prava dijudicant . " Cicero de Oratore , lib . 3 . 1 . 50 . " Most have the seeds of judgment in their minds . " POPE .

A FTER twenty-seven successive and annual exhibitions of the fine arts J- -a- of this country , we look in vain in the present for that general and splendid display of genius , which it was once thought the royal bounty , in founding the Academy , would produce . A variety of causes have contributed to check the progress of this noble institution ; and to prevent its being so generall y useful as it mi ght be . Among these causes is to be ranked —first—the dissensions of some of the memberswhich unhappilfat before

, y -ran the death of the late President ; and—second—b y a want of that patronage to the higher branches of the art , which can alone bring them to perfection . Painting , like poetry , has always flourished in proportion to the meed that has been bestowed on it . The generosity of Augustus was , perhaps , the first and chief cause that produced the JEneid of Virgil ; and it is to the bounty of Elizabeth that we are , probably , indebted for some of the subiimest effusions of the muse of Shakespeare ; nor can it be denied , that it is to the refined , lr luxurioustaste of

thoug , LEO , and his extensive encouragement of the arts , we are indebted for the best productions of the pencil of Raphael . If we apply this observation to the state of the arts in this country , we shall find that the great patronage given to portrait painting , has produced a degree of excellence m it , which leaves all competition far behind ; while Historical painting , and sculpture ( the hi gher branches of art ) have improved very little within the last twenty years ; for what artist will paint that which

produces only fame ? Or who has sufficient resolution to look , in his performances , only to posterity ? After these preliminary remarks , we shall proceed to a short review ot the present exhibition , under the respective heads of Histbiical Painting , Sculpture , Architecture , Portrait Painting , and Landscape .

HISTORICAL PAINTING . FOREMOST ( or at least most conspicuous from situation ) in this branch stands the picture of the president , " Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh " ( No . 175 . ) painted for his Majesty ' s Chapel at Windsor . This certainly does not add in the smallest degree to Mr . West ' s reputation . When he was a younger man , we were accustomed to admire the harmony of his groups , the softness and richness of his colouring , and the chaste grandeur and correctness of his whole desi '

gn ; but the present performance has not , m our opinion , one of these requisites . In most artists , a ? e , while it mellows and ripens the judgment , checks the exuberance of tlie ^ ' fancy ; but Mr West is so far an exception to this rule , that it is onl y in his later compositions we find the unnatural wildness of fancy which is so manifest here ; he aims at sublimity , and becomes either monstrous , or ridiculous . The scene m tins pifture is in a watch-house , Pharaoh is the constable of the night Aaron is a watchman bringing in Moses drunk , and the attendants are , in appearance , the usual attendants on such a place .

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1796-05-01, Page 57” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 28 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01051796/page/57/.
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Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
Untitled Article 3
LONDON: Article 3
TO READERS, CORRESPONDENTS, &c. Article 4
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. FOR MAY 1796. PRESENT STATE OF FREEMASONRY IN SCOTLAND. Article 5
Untitled Article 10
COPY OF A LETTER. FROM THE REV. DR. STURGES, Article 13
THE FOLLY OF NOBLEMEN AND GENTLEMEN PAYING THEIR DEBTS, Article 16
SKETCHES OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE NORTH-AMERICAN INDIANS. Article 19
DISCIPLINE. Article 24
EXTRACTS FROM THE MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF EDWARD GIBBON, ESQ. Article 25
ON THE MASONIC JEWELS. Article 31
ON PRESENCE OF MIND. Article 33
THE DOG-TAX; A FRAGMENT. Article 35
CIVIC ANECDOTE. Article 36
EXCERPTA ET COLLECTANEA. Article 37
CLOWNISH SIMPLICITY. Article 38
BON MOT OF THE DEVIL. Article 38
ORIGINALITY IN DR. ROBERTSON AND MR. GIBBON. Article 39
SOME ANECDOTES OF HENRY PRINCE OF WALES, Article 40
SOME PARTICULARS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN RESPECTING MONSIEUR BAILLY. Article 41
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Article 43
LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Article 48
BRITISH PARLIAMENT. Article 49
HOUSE OF COMMONS. Article 50
THE FINE ARTS. Article 57
PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 59
MASONIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 61
ANNIVERSARY OF THE GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND. Article 63
POETRY. Article 66
ELEGY, TO THE MEMORY OF STEPHEN STORACE , THE COMPOSER. Article 67
A NEW OCCASIONAL LYRIC, MASONIC EULOGIVM, Article 68
LINES TO DAPHNE, Article 68
Untitled Article 69
TO DELIA. Article 70
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 71
HOME NEWS. Article 73
PROMOTIONS. Article 77
Untitled Article 77
OBITUARY. Article 78
LIST OF BANKRUPTS. Article 80
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Page 57

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Fine Arts.

THE FINE ARTS .

ROYAL ACADEMY .

_ "Omnestacitoquodamsensu , sine ulla arte autratione , qua sint in artibus , et in pictum , et in sigms , et in ahis operibus , recta ac prava dijudicant . " Cicero de Oratore , lib . 3 . 1 . 50 . " Most have the seeds of judgment in their minds . " POPE .

A FTER twenty-seven successive and annual exhibitions of the fine arts J- -a- of this country , we look in vain in the present for that general and splendid display of genius , which it was once thought the royal bounty , in founding the Academy , would produce . A variety of causes have contributed to check the progress of this noble institution ; and to prevent its being so generall y useful as it mi ght be . Among these causes is to be ranked —first—the dissensions of some of the memberswhich unhappilfat before

, y -ran the death of the late President ; and—second—b y a want of that patronage to the higher branches of the art , which can alone bring them to perfection . Painting , like poetry , has always flourished in proportion to the meed that has been bestowed on it . The generosity of Augustus was , perhaps , the first and chief cause that produced the JEneid of Virgil ; and it is to the bounty of Elizabeth that we are , probably , indebted for some of the subiimest effusions of the muse of Shakespeare ; nor can it be denied , that it is to the refined , lr luxurioustaste of

thoug , LEO , and his extensive encouragement of the arts , we are indebted for the best productions of the pencil of Raphael . If we apply this observation to the state of the arts in this country , we shall find that the great patronage given to portrait painting , has produced a degree of excellence m it , which leaves all competition far behind ; while Historical painting , and sculpture ( the hi gher branches of art ) have improved very little within the last twenty years ; for what artist will paint that which

produces only fame ? Or who has sufficient resolution to look , in his performances , only to posterity ? After these preliminary remarks , we shall proceed to a short review ot the present exhibition , under the respective heads of Histbiical Painting , Sculpture , Architecture , Portrait Painting , and Landscape .

HISTORICAL PAINTING . FOREMOST ( or at least most conspicuous from situation ) in this branch stands the picture of the president , " Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh " ( No . 175 . ) painted for his Majesty ' s Chapel at Windsor . This certainly does not add in the smallest degree to Mr . West ' s reputation . When he was a younger man , we were accustomed to admire the harmony of his groups , the softness and richness of his colouring , and the chaste grandeur and correctness of his whole desi '

gn ; but the present performance has not , m our opinion , one of these requisites . In most artists , a ? e , while it mellows and ripens the judgment , checks the exuberance of tlie ^ ' fancy ; but Mr West is so far an exception to this rule , that it is onl y in his later compositions we find the unnatural wildness of fancy which is so manifest here ; he aims at sublimity , and becomes either monstrous , or ridiculous . The scene m tins pifture is in a watch-house , Pharaoh is the constable of the night Aaron is a watchman bringing in Moses drunk , and the attendants are , in appearance , the usual attendants on such a place .

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